The Biggest Business Social Media Blunders Of All Time

We've been growing our brand through social media since 2012, so we know all about the opportunities that social media management services can offer to businesses. We’ve compiled 8 of the biggest social media blunders made by organisations – try to get through this blog without cringing!

8. Bootea Shake’s Embarrassing Influencer Mistake

Source: Instagram

Keeping up with the Kardashian’s personality Scott Disick made a cringy blunder when he copied and pasted Bootea Shake’s suggested caption straight onto his Instagram. Awkward.

7. Cinnabon’s Tribute to Carrie Fisher

Source: CBS

When beloved Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher passed away in 2016, Cinnabon joined the many organisations around the world who paid tribute to the talented actrress. However, Cinnabon's tribute wasn't so sensitive or appropriate.

6. Ruffles Limited Time Never Tofu Crisps

Source: PR Week

Ruffles in 2017 poked fun at the vegan and vegetarian community in their audience, promoting a fake crisp with the hashtag #LimitedTimeNever. 

Lightheartedness can go down well for brands, however when doing so it is usually best to avoid alienating a large proportion of your audience!

5. Lorde’s Love for Baths

Source: Stereogum, Twitter

In 2018, Singer and Songwriter Lorde posted this picture of a bath, alongside the caption “and iiii will always love you” – lyrics from a Whitney Houstan song.

Whitney Houstan passed away in 2012 after drowning in a bath – after a social media backlash, Lorde apologised, claiming she was unaware of the circumstances of the singer's death and that it was in no way a nod towards the singer’s tragic passing.

4. PureGym “12 Years a Slave Workout”

Source: daily dot

Black History Month is a month of reflection and education across the UK, and is widely acknowledged by organisations.

During this time, a PureGym branch promoted a workout they had created in an insensitive nod to Black History Month after they branded the workout “slavery was hard and so is this”.

Avoiding posting offensive content is imperative for organisations online, you would think it goes without saying, but there are countless examples online of businesses posting insensitive content.

3. Sunny Delight’s Mental Illness Joke

Source: Eater

*Face Palms in Disbelief*

In 2019, Sunny Delight’s Twitter account pretended to have depression… real funny guys…

Either, they were trying to be funny, or thought that this would relate to the increasing number of people battling depression. Regardless, a very distasteful jab at mental health!

2. Pepsi’s Cristiano Ronaldo Voodoo Doll

Source: Business Insider

Before the 2013 football World Cup qualifier game between Sweden and Portugal, Pepsi’s Swedish branch unveiled a brand new social media campaign.

The campaign pictured a voodoo doll of Christiano Ronaldo – one of Portugal’s best players – in a series of precarious situations. The images included the voodoo doll being tied to a train track, another with its head stuck in a crushed Pepsi can and the final, and most violent, an image of the doll with pins stuck in.

After outraging football fans across the globe, Pepsi finally apologised.

1. The Susan Boyle Album Party

Source: JOE

We’ve seen many unfortunate coincidences when it comes to hashtags, however this is possibly the most outrageous. Here’s a lesson to properly capitalise your hashtags!

Avoiding Social Media Disasters

When it comes to handling your organisation’s social media – it’s always better to be safe than sorry. Planning and pulling off a social media strategy is challenging, time consuming and technical and you certainly don't want to run the risk of being caught up in a social media blunder like any of these!